The tenth line in our image caption example reads "Photograph by Geoffrey Clements." This tells us that Geoffrey Clements was the creative force behind the *digital image* of Soir Bleu.
In other words, we are looking at the work of two people in this picture: that of Edward Hopper, the painter, and that of Geoffrey Clements, the photographer who shot the picture of the painting.
The photographer is usually not credited separately in an image caption, because he or she is typically an employee of the museum or collection, and the museum or collection already has the copyright covered.
However, you should be aware that, whenever a photographer is credited, he or she holds the copyright to the image s/he shot. It's one of those "intellectual property" matters.
So, to recap:
- The museum or collection may be the copyright holder.
- The artist, the artist's estate, a licensing agency and/or a foundation may be the copyright holders.
- The photographer may hold the copyright to his or her image of the copyrighted-by-others actual work.
- All of the above, with infinite variations.
Even if twelve different entities have a copyright stake in something, it is right and proper that all twelve should be included in the image caption. Why? Because they own what we are looking at. They gave permission for us to see it, and they are the people to whom any future permissions requests should be directed. They have also frequently stipulated that this information is published. For these reasons, you should always see any and all copyright notices included in an image caption -- up to and including the photographer, if applicable.
